Miscellaneous subjects

The Sanjay Manjrekar column:
abhishek: abhishek_k1@verifone.com: Hi Sanjay, I don't agree with the comparison you have drawn between Pakistani cricket team and the gully team.To do that would be very shallow, as it takes away the credit from a deserving team which outclassed its counterpart in every department of game.It would be very unfair to say that Indian team is equal to pakistanis in terms of talent.They are nowhere close to it.They can not handle pressure and nobody except sachin has the guts to take the charge of the game.In comparison, pakistanis have a team of match winners who would dictate the course of game no matter what the situation is.Indians just lack that assertiveness or authoritiveness that is needed to beat a tough opponent. Regards, Abhishek



The Sanjay Manjrekar column:
Umar Farooque: uf24@hotmail.com: Bullshit think the indians lack guts. and they dont eat meat!



Weatherwise and otherwise:
Sanjay Sridharan: sridhara@ece.utexas.edu: Hi Prem, I'm not sure I agree with your idea of replacing Robin with Mohanty against the Sri Lankans. Mohanty's a little inexperienced - he might get hit. Not to mention Robin might be useful in chasing a slightly bigger total. I also think that 'nets' and fielding drills would be a better use of time than practice games; not to get rid of them entirely - perhaps 5 at most.



Weatherwise and otherwise:
Sanjay Sridharan: sridhara@ece.utexas.edu: Hi Prem, I'm not sure I agree with your idea of replacing Robin with Mohanty against the Sri Lankans. Mohanty's a little inexperienced - he might get hit. Not to mention Robin might be useful in chasing a slightly bigger total. I also think that 'nets' and fielding drills would be a better use of time than practice games; not to get rid of them entirely - perhaps 5 at most. The column was wonderful as usual; good job!



The Dean Jones column:
Keshav: kinamdar@usa.net: I agree with many points in the article. But no mention is made about Pshological weakness. Why do you want to depend on Sachin for moral booster. Every one should beleive he can carry the match on his shoulders.



The Sanjay Manjrekar column:
Anand: anand_01@yahoo.com: Not good ..Even I'll write an article like this ,talking tales of nothing. Moreover ,It's not nice to have a better team than India termed as "Street Fighters". Remove this crap out of this site. It'll spoil Rediff's name. My apologies for being harsh,but one has to admit that it is pure nonsense !! -Anand



The Sanjay Manjrekar column:
Hazel: rmydur@vsnl.com: You couldn't be more right. Our team lacks the will to fight especially against Pakistan. Like any other cricket-crazy Indian, I am passionate about the game too and I get most upset when they lose consistently against Pakistan. Loss to any other team somehow isn't so painful. The body language of our cricketeers is just not right - the shoulders start to droop and the heads are down when they are being outplayed by them. I hope we get a good enough captain or coach to infuse the right amount of confidence in them and to make them believe they can be world beaters too. After all, they were once between 1983-85 when they won almost every match they played. If they can do it once they can certainly do it again, since there is absolutely no dirth of talent in the side. Jadeja was a delight to watch when he captained the side against Pakistan in Sharjah. His attitude was a welcome change. I only hope the selectors give him a fair chance to perform atleast after the World Cup. I was a great fan of Azhar's once before, but he has disappointed many of us by his obvious lack of interest in the game and in the players. His interviews lacks genuineness and warmth. His personality has taken a beating and I think it's really time the selectors thought of a change at the helm. Only then can we see a new Indian team emerge.



The Sanjay Manjrekar column:
khursheed D: passass@wlink.com.np: Mr Manjrekar, What are U hinting at ? Comparing the Pakis with gully boys? Only cause some of the Pakis could not speak in English during prize giving ceromonies ? You think they lack etiquette, social manners ? You are right that they are more street smart than Azhars, Saurabhs and Dravids but your way of comparison as inferred from your article is in very bad taste.



The Sanjay Manjrekar column:
santhosh: santosh@sony.co.in:



The Sanjay Manjrekar column:
ravi: ravi@sony.co.in:



The Wasim Akram column:
mirza: ghalib@goplay.com: Sexy Man!



The Sanjay Manjrekar column:
Ray Khan: ray.khan@corporate.ge.com: Sanjay, I am surprised that you would conclude that the reason for India's cricketing woes are because they are "'more priviledged'" and therefore less likely to duke it out with the "ashamed/ socially inadequate" Pakistani team. I do not consider that India with its lower standard of living are in way more priviledged than Pakistan -- actually it is the other way around! The way you described the gully cricketer, then Kambli, Agarkar, Tendulkar, Joshi, Srinath, etc etc etc are defineltly on a lower social rung than Imran, Majid, Saeed Anwar, Waqar etc etc etc. India -- with its sheer numbers and poverty -- should be expected to produce "gully" cricketers by the millions but it does not. I believe the difference between the team is not its social backgrounds but its attitude. Pakistanis are the greater risk takers and far more aggressive and a lot more selfish. Their agressiveness, drive, and self-centeredness has made them a formidable force - at times. However, the selfishness has also eaten away at the team as you can witness from the constant parade of captains, bribery allegations, PCB board changes, etc etc etc. History has shown that anscestors of the Pakistanis (and Pakistanis themselves) as aggressors, risk takers out for personal glory -- these traits have led to the greatest successes and the worst failures.



Weatherwise and otherwise:
r d kamath: rdkamath@hotmail.com: what is the IQ level of our cricketing guys?i mean players,coach,manager,administrator.. no need to be einsteins. you just can't say azhar is azhar and leave it at that .damn it somebody has to be responsible and accountable. the cricket fans at least deserve better. it is not a question of winning everybody looses matches but the attitude and mental block against the pakis.and the goodies these guys get nowadays from corporates etc.i would not like to deny them anything but do they deserve it?anyway all the best don't let us down



The Sanjay Manjrekar column:
Venkat Kambhampaty: kvrayudu@flash.net: Cool MANjrekar. I really liked your analogy.



The Sanjay Manjrekar column:
Satish N: satishn@rediffmail.com: Sanjay What kind oof a person u r? A steet fighter or the other kind



Where is the killer instinct?:
r d kamath: rdkamath@hotmail.com: agreed..but azhar and others have to be more consistent with the bat and ball and fielding and captains have to lead by example if they can't communicate or be Brearly -the english pschycologist captain



Azhar as captain:
r d kamath: rdkamath@hotmail.com: agreed 100%



The Sanjay Manjrekar column:
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India and captaincy:
r d kamath: rdkamath@hotmail.com: aren't the selectors responsible and accountable? what business shivlal yadav had to jump the gun about azhar as captain for the world cup?all options were closed by that statement with friends like these who needs enemies till we get competent guys in the real sense of the term we will have to live with this-no options there



The Sanjay Manjrekar column:
kbs.saibabu: :



The Sanjay Manjrekar column:
kbs.saibabu: : we lack will power we need guts we must show commitment



Sachin versus Bradman:
Muthu: : This comparison is ridiculous. For one, two players from different era should never be compared. Sachin is the no. 1 bastman of today and bradman was then. But when the players like Ian Chappell, Steve Waugh and Sunil Gavaskar say that Sachin is next only to Don, they mean that he is greater by the rest of the lot in the same period. No one in the current players can come anywhere near Sachin. Telling that there were some instances that India won without Sachin batting well, is too funny. What does he mean to say that 50% of the sachin bats and other times, the rest of the team bats well. Also, the one day scores of Sunil and Sachin should never be compared. That is because Sunil didn't play 40 one days every year. Also, there was no 15 overs restriction when he had to score at over run a ball. Tell me, what was sunil's strike rate as compared to Sachin's. Can anyone forget when Sunil scored 36 runs (not out) in the 1975 world cup after batting for the entire 60 overs. Who wil not have a good average when the batsman bats just to score runs and not for the team to win. The comparison aboput Don and Sachin saying that Don didn't have any helmets and Sachin has know is also crazy. Then, there were no video tapes to review the bastman's weekness. Today, even before the bowlers bowl they know where to bowl and the fielders are standing in exact positions. Hansie Cronje once said that the only place where Sachin gives a chance will be if the ball is right upto his throat. Also, there is so much of onedays played every year that to convert from one form of the game to another would be impossible. That Don never played one day cricket and Gavaskar was never a good player and was alwyas considered a test player is a known fact. Today, had Gavaskar been playing, no doubt that he would have been in the test team, but in one day team, ( with Sachin and Ganguly opening ) ......no way. So, this comparison's speak nothing. It was poor of the person to compare such things and make a fool of himself. Just by comparing averages, no one can decide anything. And don't do that with players of different era. Today, Sachin is the best batsman in the world. The next best batsman is some where down the ladder. That is the greatest similarity between Don and Sachin. That's the reason we call him the next great to Don Bradman. Happy Birthday Sachin Tendulkar.



The Dean Jones column:
Mahesh 'Mashya': mash1830@rediffmail.com: Oye Deano ! Tere Moo^ mein Ghee Shakkar ! I have always enjoyed your batting. And the most memorable one was during the tied test ... OH it was a nightmare for us indians . Cheers ! Mahesh.



Sachin versus Bradman:
cricfan: cricfan@hotmail.com: Perfect example how stats can be misrepresented. Sachin started playing at the international level early in his career. Infact, he didn't even open batting until 80+ ODI matches. The biggest impact Tendulkar has on the team is that his presence makes the entire team better. They perform at a higher level. Those who have played cricket will be the only ones who can tell you about the impact a player like this has. The opposition has to have device a game plan just for him. But then again, people like Mr. Arvind Lavakare won't know much about that. The likes of him just look at the stats and write with their scewed perceptions.



Sachin versus Bradman:
ali: alijii@hotmail.com: stupid ARTICLE I would consider Tendulkar above BRADMAN and GAVASKAR or for that matter against all former greats Reason is obvious: BRADMAN was never exposed to the BOWLERS of today like WAsim Akram, Waqar Younus, Mushtaq, SAQLAIN, WARNE, Ambrose, Walsh, DONALD etc



Sachin versus Bradman:
balasubramanian: bala10@hotmail.com: Don't just write some thing just for the heck of writing. I apprecaite you for collecting so much of statistical data. But I think you Have forgot to get the data about how many matches india has won When Gavaskar has stayed for so long or scored a century. This is in no way underestimating the contributions of Sunny to Indian cricket. May be you would have thought that you can get the spot light if you do something opposite to others do. I think you are no greater than Sir Don and Sunny who themselves as stated sachin as a Great Player the Game has ever had. I think this is high time for you to stop writing this kind of columns. bye



Sachin versus Bradman:
ali: alijii@hotmail.com: stupid ARTICLE I would consider Tendulkar above BRADMAN and GAVASKAR or for that matter against all former greats Reason is obvious: BRADMAN was never exposed to the BOWLERS of today like WAsim Akram, Waqar Younus, Mushtaq, SAQLAIN, WARNE, Ambrose, Walsh, DONALD etc and more over,, TENDULKAR is only 25 now.. PEOPLE make debut at his age,, just imagine at this age he has acieved this much He still can play for atleast 13-14 years more. Just think how much he can achieve in this period? By the time he retired people will forget about Bradman, Gavaskar or anyone else,, MIND IT.



Sachin versus Bradman:
Sathu: msathu@hotmail.com: Many more happy returns of the day........



The Dean Jones column:
Rayudu: achyuthr@hotmail.com: Hey Dean.... Wow Man thats a good commentary and a realistic attempt to amelorate the Indian team from their louziness.I had even stopped watching their matches in ime as there is no fighting spitit,let alone the team spirit coz u know it better..... what they need is a big boost and a able interpersonal relations or els they will be screwed by even the worse team......heheheh.. Anyway thats a good commentary from u bye and take care rayudu



Sachin versus Bradman:
Ganesh: ganesh_sr@hotmail.com: Give me a break. Do you seriously believe in what you wrote?? Sachin is the one man team in India. There is no denying that. There's nothing wrong or right abt that. But you neednt fool yourself into believing otherwise. Sorry if I have been a bit forthright but thats what I think. Thanks for the interesting article and comparisons. It was good reading. Ganesh



Sachin versus Bradman:
Sameer Parasnis: samparas@rocketmail.com: Although facts stated in this article are true, a TRUE Tendulkar fan can easily counter-attack stating numerous occasions when Tendulkar came to India's rescue.PLUS This article is not well-timed..I mean this is not the time to do an evaluation of Tendulkar! Happy Birthday Tendulkar! and may India win the WC 1999!!Thanks



The Sanjay Manjrekar column:
Raju T: Raju_Tharimana@merck.com: Sanjay Manjrekar, I guess u r right. I am from Hyderabad, and the fact is the team from Old City always wins the game over we new city guys (which is Secundrabad). Some serious thinking on this issue might be helpful. Raju T



The Dean Jones column:
H Rao: hammurao@hotmail.com: Hi,



Sachin versus Bradman:
asshole-hater: seema_k90@hotmail.com: U R an Asshole



Sachin versus Bradman:
VICK LIMBANI: celect@worldnet.att.net: Happy birthday to Tendulkar.This article is very good and it must be read by a great cricketer like Tendulkar. I am sure as great a sportsman as he is he will take this article positively and make some adjustments in his style of cricket which will make him even better cricketer. I wish him good luck on his Birthday. p.s. : I remember his birthday because it is my Birthday too.



Sachin versus Bradman:
Ashish Kapoor: ashish.kapoor@ca.eyi.com: I found this article to be most nitpicky and unfair in its treatment of a great player. The fact that the author had to compare Sachin to the greatest players of all time in order to point out his so called "deficiencies" is enough to prove that Sachin belongs among the best. One could always pick one stat or another to prove a point. So Gavaskar had more double centuries than Tendulkar; Just how many centuries did he have in One days though? (One). This statement is not to put down Gavaskar as a great player. He surely was one of the greats. Rather the point is that one stat against one player does not mean anything. Just because Michael Jordan had fewer three pointers than Larry Bird does not take the title of the greatest basketball player away from Michael. Tendulkar is a complete player. He has proven this through both his batting and bowling time and time again. I could go on and mention his innings at Sharjah against Australia and compare it to innings played by other greats and obviously Sachin will win hands down. But that was just one innings and thus no big deal. Similarly, by picking a few stats here from one player and a few there from another does not undermine Sachin's talent. Bradman's era was different and he excelled at his time. Similarly Tendulkar is excelling right now. He is among the best. You can't compare Gretzky to Gordie Howe and you can't compare Maradona to Pele. These are great atheletes who have taken their sports to new hieghts. Sachin is one of the greatest cricketers of all times and no stat could refute that. His greatness lies in his completeness as a cricketer, his passion, no doubt his batting ability, his shrewdness, his timely bowling and above all his ability to single handedly win a match for his country.



Sachin versus Bradman:
Rajiv Sabharwal: rsabharwal@biospherics.com: Well Arvind I read through your article and found it very interesting that how easy it is to manipulate facts by being selective. Taking nothing away from the Don and Sunny, whom I hold in the highest esteem, it was very amusing to see the way Sachin was being downgraded, so to say. Statistically, there was no Don before the Don, there is no Don since him and there will not be any more. This is a given. Nobody is arguing against that but when it comes to greatness of a cricketer, I tend to think that Sachin is on and about there with the Don and Sunny if not exactly sharing the same pedestal. You pointed out around 6-7 instances where India won without any significant contribution from Sachin but during the same period, India played around 100 one days. What about the rest of them ? Can anybody forget the way he singlehandedly pit India in the finals at one of those tournaments in Sharjah, when he tore into the Australian attack so badly that the sponsors gave him a spontaneous award of around $20,000. As far as I am concerned, he deserved every penny of it and then some. In the same tournament, in the finals, he singlehandedly defeated Australia and even a strong character like Steve Waugh stated that there is no shame in losing to a great player. Then he beat Australia in the mini-worldcup in Dhacka. Then he was the only one who made 119 out of the Indian total of 220 odd, in the losing cause against England in 96, 148 out of 260 odd against Australia at Perth in 92. Even at Chennai, why is he to be blamed when he made 136 out of required 270 odd. What were the other so-called greats doing in the team ? People who supposedly have a higher average than him, i.e., Rahul Dravid. The list is endless. He is but a human being and is allowed his share of failures. Rather than castigating him for his infrequent failures, one should get down to analyse why is India called a one-man team. Even when Sunny was at full cry, he still had a certain GR Vishwanath, a certain Mohinder Amarnath, a certain DB Vengsarkar, a certain Kapil Dev and that wonderful quartet of spinners. Compare that to what Sachin has and you will see why he is being hailed as the only saviour for the Indian team. Not only does he let his bat do the talking, but he is the one person who has the guts to take the ball for the last over against South Africa in the Hero Cup semifinal when all they needed was 4 runs and there were overs left for people like Kapil. All this at the tender age of 26. Put another 26 year old in his shoes and you will see how that person will crumble. Even statistically, Sunny scored his mid-career runs against some B-grade teams, like Westindies under Kallicharan, Australia under Kim Hughes etc. That is the reason why his average started to look very healthy around the early 80s and then went on a downward spiral before he finished with his final average of around 52. Though this does not take away anything from the mattle of the guy because the B-grade teams were there for others to exploit too. In case of Sachin, he is starting to improve only lately. In the begining he was a 16-17 year old tike thrown in front of stalwarts like Imran and Akaram with an inbuilt childish impetuousity. How do you expect that semi-adult to behave ? Like any other semi-adult... though he did much better than your run-of-the-mill 17 year old. Well, after this longish monologue, the bottomline is that Sachin is one of the very few Indians who make me and another one Billion Indians, proud of being an Indian and if for nothing else but that, I will pick him over the great Don or even Sunny, with due respect to the credentials of the other two gentlemen. Thanks



Sachin versus Bradman:
V Srinivasan: tvsrini@glue.umd.edu: Mr. Lavakare, your column made little, if any, sense. Saying Gavaskar in his first n innings had ahigher average is nonsense. Sachin made his debut at 16, Gavaskar at 21. Sachin wasted too many inningsat that early age scoring at a low average, and has scored consistently only after 20-21 years of age, since when his average is well into the 60`s. Furthermore, Sachin`s first few years in one-dayers were most unproductive, and he has been a vastly improved batsmen, once again, the last 5 years. Your "only legitimate long term yardstick" does injustice to him if you use it the way you have used- in a very biased and screwed up manner.



Sachin versus Bradman:
Sriram: kumar_sriram@hotmail.com: It's preposterous to compare Sachin and Gavaskar in One-dayers. After all we all know who's better. So what if Gavaskar had a better average after 101 LOIs. This just proves that Sachin has bettered his average in the remaining matches(arithmetic says he has averaged close to 50). Saeed Anwar / Gary Kirsten may have records similar to Sachin but will the South Africans place a bet on Kirsten to score a century when the team needs him? No way. Michael Bevan has an Average of about 60. Would you dare to say that he's better than Tendulkar? Moreover he's a decent bowler too. He has proved this on many ocassions. He indeed is earth-shakingly different. Different because every single time he comes to bat he's under tremendous pressure. He knows that the opponents have a huge psychological advantage if he gets out. Is it the same case with Mark Waugh or Kirsten? Both the teams(South Africa and Australia) are supposed to have a long batting line-up and that's one reason they both can become the world champions. But it's not the case with India. We have so many unreliable people in the team and the burden ultimately falls on the shoulders of one man: Sachin Tendulkar. I agree that he has performed well below his potentials in the test arena. But who knows? He might not have scored a double century as yet he could still score dozens. After all he scored his first one day century after five full years in international cricket. My best wishes to Sachin for a prosperous year with the bat( and ball) and hope he helps India win the World Cup.



Sachin versus Bradman:
Senthil: rvsganesh@hotmail.com: What a waste of time reading such a big article. Arvind, you have pinpointed the individual matches wherein Tendulkar failed to score. What do you expect?? Sachin should score centuries in every match....... riduculous assumption isn't it?? So is this article. We all know that Sachin may not be the best player that the world has ever seen. But he's succeded more often than he failed. Now let's come to your Don Bradman's comparision. If my memory is not flawed, they didn't have bowlers of today's class at that time. How many Akram's, Donald's, Akthar's did they have at that time. By no means I'm alluding that Don is inferior to Sachin. But when comparisions are made like this, isn't it pruduent to make judgements based on other conditions and not just statistics. Don might very well be the best player so far. But discrediting Sachin for the times he failed to score is just ludicrous. And about the timing of this article? Boy!! should I say more. Sachin has showed phenomenal improvement in his scores after he moved to opening slot, which is where he belongs. ODI's has evolved considerably over the years. Not only do we want to play out the 50 overs, but we want to score runs at a brisk pace also. We don't want to loose just 1 wicket and have 100 runs on the board at the end of 50 overs. We all know of Sanath Jayasuria's performance during the last world cup. I don't think their strategy was to make Jayasuria play out 50 overs. And by golly it worked. Many things change over the years and cricket is no exception to that. The demands of the game has changed considerably from Bradman's times. So it doesn't make any sense to make such comparisions!!! I rest my case.



Sachin versus Bradman:
S.Bharadhwaj: bharadh@hotmail.com: 100 % in agreement. Another thing, Tendulkar has got hit on the helmet at least 3 times,once at Sharjah(Akram was the bowler), once at Capetown(Donald) and once in England(Malcolm). In those days, had Gavaskar or Bradman got hi without a helmet, they would have lost their lives. Thus, Tendulkar is an inferior batsman technically - he is even below the likes of Javed Miandad.



The Sanjay Manjrekar column:
Piyush Bansal: piyushbansal@inf.com: Hi, I share the views with Sanjay Manjrekar. Indian cricket team seems to loose the matches against Pakistan even before the start of the match. Somehow Indians don't seem to be the same team against Pakistan. Even though we are a better team then Pakistan, we probably don't believe it ourselves. Also, we lack a killer will. It is often said that a cricket match is not over till the last ball is bowled, but we Indians believe that we have lost the match as soon as the going get tough. Indeed all we need is a Few die hard Fighters and probably soon we will be the best team in the globe. Cheers Piyush.



Sachin versus Bradman:
Alli Shrinivas: asv4@hotmail.com: Arvind, I agree. No cricketer of this generation doesnot deserve or qualify to be compared with Legend Bradman. This includes sachin and Lara. As u said, I too think, in cricket, staying in power is more important than small storm. Sachin should learn to play responsible innings and I guess, he is trying to do. His Chennai test innings against pakistan, proves that. In England, we can not afford to lose Sachin by irresponsible shots, as it is expected all the games there will be low scoring. With Arvind's adive of staying power, I wish Sachin Happy Birthday. Alli Shrinivas.



Sachin versus Bradman:
Dr. Y. K. Sharma: yks@alpha.nic.in: You are being unduly harsh on one of the most modest and committed players. It's the age of consumerism and marketing everything like a product. Why blame the product!Just leave people like Sachin and Azhar, even Jadeja, alone and let them try their best which undoubtedly they will. Your analysis of course is quite informative.



Weatherwise and otherwise:
Subhajit Dey: subhajit_dey@hotmail.com: Prem, I agree with you regarding your comments on the selection of Indian team's venue for practice before the World Cup starts. We shouldn't lose any time because of rain or any other factors. Then there's a big debate going on about whether Jadeja should replace Azhar as captain or not. According to me, it's too late to do that. It should have been done much earlier, but again at that time, Azhar was doing pretty well. And since the Board has announced the team and the captain long time back and it's not going to be changed, so by debating on the captaincy issue, we are only going to demoralize the team and it's leader which is not going to do us any good. All of us know that Azhar is not going to step down from captaincy on his own. I am not too worried on this captaincy issue. If we have the team spirit, then I am sure everyone including Jadeja and Sachin also going to help Azhar on the field with valuable suggestions, and then there will be coach and other senior players too. Only Azhar has to be open to all the ideas. But the thing that bothers me most is the form of Azhar, the batesman. It's been a long time we are wasting a good middle order batesman in Azhar on that spot. Other than that one innings against England at Sharjah, Azhar is not producing the good at all for a long time now and it's a matter of serious concern. If Azhar fails in the first couple of matches, then he should either step down on his own or he should be dropped because otherwise it would mean that an in-form batesman like Ramesh is sitting out, whereas we are continuing with Azhar and Azhar should be the first one to realize that and step down for the sake of the team and the country.



The Sanjay Manjrekar column:
vijayaraghavan: vijayaraghavan_g@hotmail.com: >I am not so sure whether they even knew the meaning of ethics. wow! that was a god one. enjoyed the article as a whole, but liked that line in particular, 'cause whether it describes that "gully" team best or not, it does describe the Paki team like nothing else can! anyway i think indian cricketers don't need to stoop to such low levels of forgetting our ethics and think only abt winning. I, as a die-hard indain supporter feel quite confident that Azzu bhai's team can maintain the decent and ethical image they have and still win the World Cup on 20 June 1999! what they probably need is the continued support of all columnists like u. wishing and waiting sincerely for india's repeat performance of 1983!



Sachin versus Bradman:
SB: smbasu@hotmail.com: Well said! Finally, somebody has had the guts to come forward and dispel the myths surrounding Tendulkar. It is true that he is one of the best batsmen in the world, and that on his day he can demolish any bowling attack. But on his day, Lara, Kallis, Afridi, etc., etc. can do the same. Unfortunately, a lot of people are going to be very critical of this article. Tendulkar has won several one day matches for India but he hasn't done more than save a few Test matches, or his centuries have helped India set big 4th innings targets. It was Sunny who led India on that successful chase of 406 vs the Windies, and that "oh so close" chase of 438 against England in 1979. India depends and expects too much from Sachin. India's best one day chase in Dhaka was successfully engineered by Ganguly and Robin, not Sachin. Sachin had a great series in Sharjah, but we really need to see him clinch more matches single-handedly for India before he can be compared to former greats and declared as India's only hope! He has several years of cricket left in him. The board should lighten the burden on these players somewhat and Sachin has the talent to reach absolute greatness. He has to win Test matches for India. After all, with Sir Don's strikerate, he would probably make Jayasuriya and Afridi look like dead-bat defenders had he been playing today! On a closing note, once again, a great article by Mr. Lavakare and good luck India!



Sachin versus Bradman:
Krishnakumar: kksgopala@hotmail.com: Arvind, has hit a nail on head. sachin has to prove a lot , if he is to be even compared with sunil, meaning winning for india. He has very few winning knocks for india. He hasn't one knock to lead india to victory when chips were down.



Sachin versus Bradman:
C.S.Sriram: sriramcs@aol.com: Happy B'Day Sachin !!! Good luck for the World Cup. Keep your focus - the rest will follow. Sriram



Sachin versus Bradman:
: : Happy B'day Sachin! Arvind I do agree with the statistical comparison between T'kar, Gavaskar and Bradman. You gave the figures for the all of them when they finished say 102 one day internationals, 105 test innings etc. Why did you keep the "AGE" factor out of discussion? I think it matters a lot when a 25 year old chap plays with a burdon of responsibilities.



Sachin versus Bradman:
Salil Joshi: saljos@hotmail.com: Happy B'day Sachin! Arvind I do agree with the statistical comparison between T'kar, Gavaskar and Bradman. You gave the figures for the all of them when they finished say 102 one day internationals, 105 test innings etc. Why did you keep the "AGE" factor out of discussion? I think it matters a lot when a 25 year old chap play with a burdon of responsibilities.



Sachin versus Bradman:
Ananth: ant_krish@hotmail.com: i dont believe in this column. sachin's mere presence will give a morale booster for the team. the columnist has to consider that sachin adjust himself in the batting order or opening batsman. i think there is no point in doing comparison like these. at the present scenario he is one of the greatest cricketer in the world



Sachin versus Bradman:
Fahad qadri: fahad84@hotmail.com: I agree with you! Gavaskar And Bradman were far better than SRT.



The Sanjay Manjrekar column:
Balaji Krishnan: balajikrishnan@hotmail.com: I was truly appalled that Sanjay could come up with this. The point about the gully cricketers beating the colony cricketers is well taken but then to make a huge jump and equate that to the Indo-Pak series speaks volumes about lack of decency. Does the author imply that like the gully cricketers Pakistani team is not well groomed? By the same token does he imply that like his colony cricketers the Indian team is very erudite, "well brought up" and academically brilliant? Nobody would accuse me of being a big fan of the Pakistan team, but this stinks of a superiority complex and big brotherly attitude which is totally uncalled for. I dont see the Indian team as a bunch of "more privilege people" than the Pakistani team. I dont know where that is from. If anything even the Aaquid Javed's of the world have made more money in the desert beating up on India than some stars of the Indian team (on the field). I am not sure Sanjay has heard Azhar speak after a match, esp. against Pakistan. If he has he will not be making claims of grace or erudition (as has been pointed out by Prem in his analysis). Also, India was always represented only by its captain and manager. (May be the well groomed Indian team was not comfortable in front of the media). OTOH Pakistan had its best performers face the media on everyday besides their captain and manager. For most parts I found that the Pakistanis were able to talk more sense and put their views across very well. A parting thought... if the current team has the same psuedo superiority complex that Sanjay has portrayed, no wonder we are not doing well. After all it is quite easy to find solace in the fact that we are well groomed, more erudite, more privileged, more ethical, etc. etc. than the guys that beat us. Until we face up to reality that all that matters is what happens on the field we dont have a hope in hell. Balaji



Sachin versus Bradman:
amitabh: amitabh@onthe.net.au: Dear Arvind, This article is very biased. I'm not much into statistics. However common sense has it that when comparisons are made, they must be fair. Gavaskar was great in his own right, but Tendulkar is more talented. Gavaskar scored more runs than Tendulkar in his first 105 test innings as here always opened the innings, while Tendulkar was batting at 5 or 6, and thus fewer chances to score a big total. However, in the last 7 years Tendulkar has averaged 57+ per innings. One must not forget that the quality of fielding has improved leaps and bounds which further reduces the chances to score. Fielding in Bradman's era (compared with today) was generally mediocre to pedestrian. Even in Gavaskar's era, it wasn't nearly as efective as it is today. Tendulkar style of play mesmerises the opposition , as Australia felt last year. So, comparisons must be fair. Also in one dayers, since opening the batting for India from 1994, Tendulkar averages nearly 50 runs/innings, far superior to Anwar, Kirsten, Lara or even Gavaskar with 21 centuries. While In 204 one day innings, Tendulkar has 32 man-of-the-match awards, more than any other cricketer in the game's history. You obviously are a fan of the cricketers from the past oblivious to ways in comparing cricketers fairly (like the australian media). Anyway, thanks for you thoughts.



The Sanjay Manjrekar column:
Balaji Krishnan: balajikrishnan@hotmail.com: I was truly appalled that Sanjay could come up with this. The point about the gully cricketers beating the colony cricketers is well taken but then to make a huge jump and equate that to the Indo-Pak series speaks volumes about lack of decency. Does the author imply that like the gully cricketers Pakistani team is not well groomed? By the same token does he imply that like his colony cricketers the Indian team is very erudite, "well brought up" and academically brilliant? Nobody would accuse me of being a big fan of the Pakistan team, but this stinks of a superiority complex and big brotherly attitude which is totally uncalled for. I dont see the Indian team as a bunch of "more privilege people" than the Pakistani team. I dont know where that is from. If anything even the Aaquid Javed's of the world have made more money in the desert beating up on India than some stars of the Indian team (on the field). I am not sure Sanjay has heard Azhar speak after a match, esp. against Pakistan. If he has he will not be making claims of grace or erudition (as has been pointed out by Prem in his analysis). Also, India was always represented only by its captain and manager. (May be the well groomed Indian team was not comfortable in front of the media). OTOH Pakistan had its best performers face the media on everyday besides their captain and manager. For most parts I found that the Pakistanis were able to talk more sense and put their views across very well. A parting thought... if the current team has the same psuedo superiority complex that Sanjay has portrayed, no wonder we are not doing well. After all it is quite easy to find solace in the fact that we are well groomed, more erudite, more privileged, more ethical, etc. etc. than the guys that beat us. Until we face up to reality that all that matters is what happens on the field we dont have a hope in hell. Balaji



Sachin versus Bradman:
Satish: sat_sai@yahoo.com: Let me laugh my heart out before i repond to this column. This article deals with an irrelevant and improper comparison that can ever be made. First Tendulkar is the best batsman on earth today. This can not be contemplated. He has fared well and CONSISTENTLY WELL compared to his counterparts LARA, Kirsten etc. See you should understand one thing. Tendulkar is playing under so much pressure all these years (right from 17 years). Gavaskar, i agree is a good batsman of his days but dont compare him with tendulkar. Gavaskar was playing in a team which had may other players contributing to it like shrikanth, vengsarkar, Shastri, Kapil dev, azhar. infact all of them gave a lot of support. But, today's team doesnt have somebody as reliable. i should appreciate you for spending quite some time in trying to pick out these "rare matches" in which sachin failed. I hope you know that statistics will have to be taken with probability in order to be justified. you have just taken a 1 in 50 case. Bradman might have played without helmet or any protection but even Larwoods speed is only comparable to the speed of srinath if u check with the statistics, he did not bowl at the speed of akram, or waqar or Donald. Bradman was a test bestman and so was gavaskar. If i were to argue like you i would say a batsman who could not get a mere 4 runs in the final innings to make his avg 100 how can he be a big player (this is your kind of arguement and by the way i'm taking about bradman). Gavaskar has just 1 hundred to his credit compared to tendulkars 21 hundreds. Let me tell you one more thing Gavaskar could never win a one day man single handedly like what tendulkar did against australia in sharjah. The competition in the field today is way far off when compared to bradman's time when most matches were against a single opponent "England" bradman could easily know the tactics of the opponents, he would know what kind of bowling to expect unlike tendulkar because, today there are so many teams and so many different kinds of bowlers in the field that you have really keep studying each bowler litreally from match to match. Sachin has faced 20 times as many bowlers as bradman has faced. Coming to Gavaskars case, India has won many matches (one day) without his contribution infact the count the way way far ahead compared to sachin's case. Sachin at his age is the second highest scorer in one day in india next only to azar and he has played 100 matches less than him. Before he reaches 30 he would have comfortably crossed the 10,000 mark, which gavaskar wasnt able to accomplish. Now all these arguements are only to counteract your baseless, irrelevant comparison. I adore Bradman, Gavaskar and Sachin but kindly dont compare them as the arguement could be framed according to the person who writes the article. Its like comparing who is powerful a lion or a tiger or an elephant. Each one have their own strengths and weakness. regards, satish.



Sachin versus Bradman:
shekar: dshekar@yahoo.com: Good comparison. But I think Sachin is only now maturing into a great cricketer (he was always good), and all the qualities will show in the years to come. Anyway, he still is our best hope for the World Cup. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SACHIN, and hope you have a wonderful year (winning the cup!).



The Dean Jones column:
Balaji: balajikrishnan@hotmail.com: Just an observation: Richard Pybus to become the asst. coach of Pakistan for the WC (this was when Javed was the Coach). The SA management goes on the offensive and makes it clear that they would very much not like Pybus to take this assignment. Later Bacher makes a comment that they would not like him to be involved in strategy sessions when Pak play SA. Pybus is not even associated with the national team. Simmo is appointed as a coach and is paid a huge amount (the fig escapes my memory now) to be with the team at his convenience. He is a coach on and off, more off than on. Dean Jones, as are most Aussies, a tough cricketer (Still remember the dehydrated knock at Chepauk). He feels Simmo would be of great help to India. I dont for a moment believe that Deano is suddenly in love with India and would love to see them do well. It only looks like a good recommendation letter knowing fully well that Simmo is not going to work any miracles out here. If Jones truly believed that Simmo could get this team to win, I am sure we would have heard a lot of objections. Just a thought.... Balaji



Sachin versus Bradman:
Easwar Sarangapani: easwars@hotmail.com: Arvind Lavakare has helped in putting light into the so called "One Man Army" unit aka the Indian National Cricket team but think he has gone wee bit over the line in taking out Sachin's contribution to Indian cricket. But a very good article nevertheless & very informative.



The Sanjay Manjrekar column:
Manish Bhatt: bhattm@hotmail.com: A real Crap Manjarekar! They have talent and a good leader. lets except it.



Sachin versus Bradman:
venkat: venki@sc.edu: Arvind is very right. It is just because of this too much hype that Tendul was given captaincy at a very young age and he screwed up. Captaincy affected his performance, while Bradman and Gavaskar were consistent. Tendul does not have the staying power. Especially when India is chasing, he gets out making silly mistakes, like the stump out against England in the last year (1997 sharjah, when he was the captain). I strongly believe that his best is yet to come. His best so far has been that 140+ against Australia in Sharjah last year. Comparing Lara and Tendul, Lara has proved himself against Aussie in Aussie (chasing 280+), against England in England etc. He hasn't got a good innings in India so far. Now he has brought back WI to form. Tendul is yet to prove himself outside the subcontinent. Let us all wish that he proves it this time in this world cup.



The Sanjay Manjrekar column:
Girish Aitahl: girish.aithal@bflsoftware.com: Hello, Here, i would also like to stresss the point that our Indian team, I think, goes into a match against Pakistan, thinking that our chances of winning are almost nil. So even though they have a chance of winning, they give themselves up. We should give a serious thought about this matter as the world cup is nearing.



Sachin versus Bradman:
Bipin C. Trehan: trehanbip@hotmail.com: Lavakare is right to a certain extent. Yeah! we have given Sachin a demi-god status...but this is a nation short of heroes...and sometime, just the numbers do not convey everything. One thing that Sachin needs to have is consistency..Instead of scoring one century followed by a string of low scores in every test series, he needs to consistenetly score 40 and 50s sprinkled with a big hundred every now and then...Taking a few lessons from Lara will be a great idea..when lara is in the form, he consistently scores big... Hope Sachin gets consistent, as he enters into the 26th year of his life. Happy Birthday !! Sachin Hope



Sachin versus Bradman:
Balaji: bthirnrayan@hotmail.com: Oh.., What a Pathetic Column, comparing Apples and Oranges. I still do not know how Rediff published this crap. -Balaji



The Sanjay Manjrekar column:
Shilpa Vijaya: SHILPAV@prodigy.net: Also Sanjay , I think the Indian team is somehow intimidated by the Pakistanis . The Pakistanis give 200% of there energies against India . The Pakistan team has gone thru a slump after Imran Khan retired but the moment the played against the slump , the team issues are all forgotten and they come together as a team and now are on an upswing and are probably now quite the favourite to win the world cup. While the Indian the Indian almost becomes Mouse like when playing against Pakistan. Sanjay , you have played for the team, have you ever discussed among yourselves what happens when you play against them and tried to solve this PROBLEM ?



The Sanjay Manjrekar column:
Abhijit Dey: abhijitd@hotmail.com: I am writing this because, I would love to see Indian Cricketers be themselves. I didn't like it when Sanjay Manjrekar after taking few brilliant catches during World Cup 1996 made some gestures which didn't go well with his personality. I will always prefer Indian Cricketers talking through their fielding, running between the wicket, batting and bowling instead of making some obscene gestures. Don't act tough, be tough. Toughness is matter of thinking and believing in oneself and not giving up until it's over.



Sachin versus Bradman:
Amol: amolbhai@yahoo.com: The ugliest piece of journalism writing I have seen recently. Talking of statistical value this piece is more filthy in content than D'souza's column and the most recent kuldip nayar column.Now to the point. If statistics were the criteria,India would have never won the 83 world cup(I havent heard any journalist blasting world greats like loyd and viv richards who were in the same league as gavaskar for failing at the most crucial point-- a world cup final).Every great fails sometimes but more imporant is his presence in the team. I just wish to give one instance of sachin which made him above all --in the hero cup final against south africa when they needed just 5 runs to win this fellow literally snatches the ball from azhar and kapil's hands.Why,was he even 10% of kapil's standard in bowling;but he had the determination to turn this match and he did it. Why do bowlers dance like mad when they get this little man out?.Yea I got it.They havent read your column and compared the statistics.I will fax this to all teams so that they wont spend their energy rejoicing so much when the little man is out? why does shane say that sachin is the most difficult batsmen to bowl? obviously he hasnt read your statistics. Why does the selection comittee expects tendulkar to open innings,build innings,increase runrate and stay till the end to win the match and sometimes bowl also.Offcourse they did not xpect so much of gavaskar at his time. And most impo why did bradman himself say that he felt sachin play like him?obviously he wanted to get cheap publicity right like you; because you know a lot of people will respondt to this column. lAST thing; SACHIN IS GREAT BECAUSE HE IS COMMITTED TO HIS TEAM AND HIS COUNTRY.HE DOES NOT THREATEN TO RESIGN (LIKE LARA DID) IF REMOVED FROM CAPTAINCY. HE ALLOWS SELECTORS TO MERCILESLY CHANGE HIS BATTING ORDER.HE BOWLS IN CRUCIAL OVERS.HE DOES NOT LOSE HIS FORM MORE THAN OFTEN.AND THAT IS WHY HE IS SACHIN.TRUE HE HAS LET US DOWN IN SOME CRUCIAL SITUATIONS.BUT HE WILL LEARN.HOWEVER THIS METHOD OF UNCALLED CRITICISM WILL PROVE DEVASTATING BUT AGAIN HE IS SACHIN.HE WONT RESPOND TO YOU,Mr LAVAKARE;HE WILL PLAY HIMSELF OUT FOR HIS COUNTRY AND THAT IS WHAT WE EXPECT FROM HIM. FOR YOU WE EXPECT THAT YOU WILL BE MORE HAPPY WRITING POLITICAL COLUMNS THAN SUCH UNCALLED SUGGESTIONS



The Sanjay Manjrekar column:
Rajesh: rkota@att.com: Sanjay Manjrekar's analysis, on why India Stumbles repeatedly against pakistan, seem's apt, but quite sectarain. Sectarian, in the sense that, it's not only the Pakistani team, that has a burning desire to win. Teams of other cricketing nations I should say are equally motivated. Also, the fact that, Pakistan is able to raise the level of it's game specially against India, more often than not, speaks of something more Innate than "street fighting" instinct. Putting aside factors such as Talent, Personal goals, compensatory benefits, I think they are almost always in pursuit of a society driven necessity/requirement to defeat India in a game: be it cricket/hockey/kabaddi.....



The Sanjay Manjrekar column:
Muthukumar Shanmugham: smuthukumar@hotmail.com: Sanjay, The only reason why India cannot improve in all the areas is just because people having attitude like you. 'What happens to India when they play against Pakistan?' This question arise for every Indian not only for a lift-man . May be you have to come out of your sophasticated lifesystem and see the outer world. Are you not ashamed of comparing pakistan players as a street fighters and gully cricketers. Forget about their personal behaviour, look at their team spirit and cooperation when they play against india. It is unimaginable. I doubt that India will ever make a players like Imran, Javed, Akram,..... Iam a software engineer in Atlanta and also a good cricketer. I like you. Becoz you are one among the players who was technically sound. But you should not have a mind set like this. The article which you gave in the rediff was awful. I can't digest it as a cricketer. If the Indian players think like you they'll never make India attain any good position in the cricket world. Thanks, Kumar Shanmugham



Sachin versus Bradman:
Suresh Chandra: schandra@callsciences.com: Sachin, Wish you all the best on your Birthday, and a lot more happy returns of the day. May god bless you with good health and great success in this year and in the coming years. -Suresh.



Sachin versus Bradman:
Manoj Welinkar: vwelinkar@aol.com: This article is just great . Cheers



Sachin versus Bradman:
Naveen: nshank@hotmail.com: There is no way you can compare persons of different generations. And in the first part of this column the writer points out the cases where India has won despite Sachin failing and to be fair it is not many also he fails to look at the many matches he has won single handedly for India. He fails to look at his dominance over supposedly world class bowlers against whom many of his contemporaries have failed miserably.... A players brilliance is judged not by statistics alone....A person who has played any form of cricket will not deny that Sachin is the best thing to happen to Indian Cricket.

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